


People Can't Fly

by bashfulglowfly



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:40:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bashfulglowfly/pseuds/bashfulglowfly
Summary: Sasuke thinks about committing suicide but Naruto talks him out of it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	People Can't Fly

Sasuke stood at the top of the cliff overlooking Konoha and swiped angrily at the tears running down his face.

His father was being unreasonable. Again. Fugaku just wouldn’t listen and Sasuke just didn’t have the words to explain how he felt.

Uchiha problems. Not listening to others. And not being able to talk to others about their _fEeLiNgS_.

“People can’t fly.”

Sasuke jumped at the voice that suddenly came from behind. He spun on one heel to glare at the young man that had suddenly appeared. “What?”

The man appeared to be about Sasuke’s own age and was wearing a well-worn orange hooded, blue jeans and battered hi-tops. “People can’t fly. Without proper equipment. And survive. At least from this height.”

“I wasn’t…”

A blond eyebrow rose. “Going to commit suicide? It’s 1 a.m. and you’re standing at the top of Founder’s Cliff. You were going to jump.” Blue eyes stared deep into Sasuke’s face. “Why?”

“I…I don’t know. I…my father…he wants me to be something I’m not.”

“Be what?”

“A lawyer.”

“So, tell him that you don’t want to be a lawyer.”

“I’ve _tried_. But he won’t listen. Uchiha’s are lawyers. Period. That’s what we do.” Sasuke’s voice became mocking at the last few sentences.

“What do _you_ want to do?”

Sasuke threw his hands in the air. “That’s the thing. I don’t _know_! All I’ve heard my entire life is ‘you’re going to become a lawyer.’ And that’s what I planned on being but now that it’s time for me to apply for law school…I can feel it strangling me. **AND HE WON’T FUCKING LISTEN!** ”

The blonde scratched at his neck “Okay, setting aside the fact that your father is an asshole, what would your suicide do to other people in your family?”

The words hit Sasuke like a blow and he doubled over. “Mother…Itachi…Obito…”

“Who are Itachi and Obito?”

“My older brother and my cousin.”

“Have you talked to them? About not wanting to be a lawyer?”

Sasuke’s voice was barely a whisper. “No.”

“Talk to them. If you can’t say it to their faces, then write them a letter. Let them know how you feel. Because you can’t come back from suicide. Ever.”

Sasuke looked at the other man who looked back with a young face but old eyes. “What’s your name?”

“Naruto.” The blond smiled. “Go home, Sasuke. Talk to your brother and your cousin. They may be able to help.”

“Thank you. I…owe you.”

Naruto laughed. “You can bring me a beer. I’m old enough to drink now. By the way, if you do come back, come during the day and you’ll probably meet someone I know She’s cute. Her name’s Sakura. She’s become a good friend over the last several years. You might like her.” Naruto turned and started walking down the trail one hand lifted in farewell. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Sasuke took one last look over the city then followed the blond down the trail. He was rather surprised he didn’t catch up to the other man by the time he got to his car but he started thinking about what he would say to Itachi and Obito so they wouldn’t kill him for being stupid.

8888888

Sasuke survived the wrath of his brother and cousin. 

And the wrath of his mother.

He still didn’t know what he was going to do with his life, but law wasn’t going to be it.

He pulled into the parking lot at the base of Founder’s Cliff and grabbed the cooler that held the beer he was hoping he could share with Naruto. This was the third time he’d come looking for the other man but hadn’t yet seen him.

A flash of pink caught his eye. A woman with bright pink hair appeared to be straightening something at the base of the cliff.

Curious, Sasuke walked up to her. It looked like she was fixing some sort of shrine.

“Hi.”

The woman jumped and turned around. She had the most brilliant emerald green eyes Sasuke had ever seen.

His heart turned over in his chest.

The woman pressed a hand against her nicely endowed chest and took a deep breath. “I didn’t hear you walk up.”

“Sorry!” Sasuke smiled an apology. “I saw you and wondered what you were doing.”

“Oh.” The green eyes darkened with old pain. “I was just fixing the shrine.”

“I didn’t know there was a shrine here.”

“Well, it’s not really a shrine but more of a memorial.” She pushed at her hair. “A classmate of mine in middle school jumped off the top of the cliff. He was bullied pretty badly, and I guess he thought this was the only choice he had.”

Sasuke’s blood ran cold. He had almost made the same choice himself but had been talked out of it. He held out a hand “I’m Sasuke.”

The young woman smiled. “Sakura.”

“OH! Naruto told me that I might meet you here!”

The smile faded from her face. “What?”

Sasuke grimaced “I was stupid a few weeks ago and was up at the top one night and Naruto talked me out of jumping. He said that I might meet you here and that the two of you had become good friends over the last…few…years.” Sasuke stumbled over the last words because the color drained from Sakura’s face and her eyes became almost impossibly wide. “What? What did I say?”

Sakura’s hands were visibly shaking as she pushed her hair away from her face. “What…what did he look like?”

“About our age. Blond. Orange hoodie, blue jeans, hi-tops. He had some old scars on his cheeks.” Sasuke lifted the cooler. “He said that he was old enough to drink and to bring him a beer.”

Tears rolled down Sakura’s face. “He said that we were good friends? Really?”

Sasuke started to reply when she fell to her knees and sobbed like her heart was breaking. Sasuke dropped the cooler, knelt down, and wrapped his arms around her.

It took several minutes but eventually Sakura stopped crying. She pulled tissues from a pocket and wiped her nose and face. She looked up at Sasuke. “The classmate that killed himself. His name was Naruto.”

“What.” Cold started seeping into Sasuke’s flesh.

Sakura staggered to her feet and walked the few steps to the memorial. She picked up a picture frame and turned it to face Sasuke.

It was of a boy. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Scars on his cheeks. A bright smile that Sasuke could see it didn’t reach his eyes. Orange hoodie.

It was a younger version of the man he’d met at the top of the cliff.

“Is this who you saw?”

“He was older.” Sasuke turned stunned eyes to Sakura.

She ran a hand across the picture. “He was bullied. Terribly. We were in the same class. I didn’t bully him, but I didn’t really do anything to stop it either. I tried telling the teachers, but they didn’t want to bother protecting a loud-mouth orphan when the bullies had influential parents.” She looked at Sasuke. “He’d be our age if he hadn’t jumped.”

“I don’t understand.” Whispered Sasuke.

“Maybe we aren’t meant to understand.” She placed the picture back into the memorial.

Sasuke took a step back and almost tripped over the forgotten cooler. He looked at it for a moment then opened it up. He pulled out three cans. One he placed on the memorial. The other he handed to Sakura.

She gazed at it for a moment. And they simultaneously popped the tops and drank the beers down.

“He said I was a good friend?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “Would you like to have lunch with me?”

“Sure.”

“Good, I know a great place not far from here. Ichiraku Ramen.”

“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been.”

Sakura grinned “Follow me. I think you’ll like it.” She turned to the memorial. “See you next month, Naruto.”

Sasuke bowed deeply towards the memorial. “Thank you for stopping me.”

The pair turned and walked to their cars and drove off.

They never saw the beer can left behind open and the contents disappear. A soft voice murmured to the wind “Not bad. Milk’s still better.”


End file.
